Taylor Tracy and Matt Cabahug
The state of Branford High School spirit – whether it has improved or worsened – has students and teachers asking what has changed this year as we returned to a new sense of normalcy.
There are many different perspectives on what school spirit is and some define it as school wide participation and spirit in events. Some say there is great school spirit.
But some believe that the school spirit is less than what it has been before.
“Is the article [on school spirit] going to be a blank page?” Said Kev Connell, Social Studies teacher and track coach about the spirit at BHS recently. Connell is retiring as a teacher at the end of this year.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic and the quarantining of the Branford community, the personalities of all students have changed, causing the school to put more rules and restrictions in place, lowering the school’s morale as a whole.
“Things are stricter now,” World Language teacher Alberto Cintron said. “There was more spirit when there was more freedom, but it’s safer.”
Even Principal Lee Panagoulious thinks that our school spirit is improving since the pandemic and loves seeing participation in events and more people getting involved in clubs and sports.
“When I look back at clubs and special events,” Panagoulias said. “It’s good to bring everyone back together.”
Others see school spirit from a different perspective. Some say more students participated in dress-up days in the past and also thought the seniors’ spirit was really high, which influenced more people to participate.
“Seniors in 2020 made everyone feel included,” said senior Allie Bietz.
“It could be better… if more people participated,” said senior Massimo Corrick when asked about participation during dress-up days.
On the other hand some others see dress up days differently and participate. “Sometimes I participate,” said sophomore Kio Perez.
In some situations, the spirit at BHS couldn’t be better. Like at the fall football games, where the “Red Sea” all come together and dress up in fun themes to support our football team as they played their games. Attendance at football games has increased in the last two years. Same goes to say for BHS Hockey and Basketball, but that is as far as the spirit goes, according to many students.
Some say their sport isn’t as recognized as other sports, or if their season isn’t going well nobody will come out for support.
“I guess it would be nice, but nobody will come to a track meet,” said Junior Noah Hauswirth, when asked if more support during sports would encourage him to perform better.
The school spirit used to be a lively place where people could come together and celebrate being a high school community. In other schools, students and staff seem to compare our school to other schools.
“When I look at my daughters’ pep rallies [at Sheehan High School]… I wish that Branford had more” said math teacher Danielle Craig. “People just don’t seem to want to be as involved [at BHS].”
When looking at pep rallies you see how school wide participation in sports and clubs are at an all time low. The question asked is how do we get more participation?
“Students in the sports and clubs already, could be of more benefit, and being more interactive in bringing in fresh faces instead of just posters,” said Keyla Padilla.
Staff and students alike at BHS are hopeful and think that the spirit and participation here can change for the better.
“Get more students involved, join and make more clubs,” said math teacher Ryan Roberts, who is also a faculty class advisor for the class of 2023.
School Spirit can not be manufactured. The environment, the students, and the staff creates and sets the tone for school spirit in the future.
